Joint replacement surgery

Joint replacement surgery involves the surgical replacement of diseased joint surfaces with implants which will restore proper, pain-free function of the joint. All joint replacements have potential problems but successful outcomes are in the great majority – as is the case with knee and hip replacement – so patients have good reason to expect a successful outcome to their surgeries.

Knee Replacement:

 A knee replacement replaces your diseased knee joint and eliminates the damaged bearing surfaces that are causing you pain. The design of the implant offers you renewed stability and minimizes the wear process. Modern knee replacement surgery has a very high success rate, and offers many patients great improvements in quality of life.

Hip Replacement:

A hip replacement replaces your arthritic or degenerative hip joint and eliminates the damaged bearing surfaces that are causing you pain. The implant, therefore, provides renewed stability and joint function. Hip replacement surgery also has a very high success rate, and can result in an incredible quality of life improvement to many patients.

Other Types of Joint Replacement:

BoneSmart.org is dedicated raising patient awareness about hip and knee joint replacement options, but there are many other joints that can be replaced surgically:

• ankle
• shoulder
• elbow
• wrist
• thumb, base joint
• big toe (great toe) – usually silicone rubber
• fingers – usually silicone rubber

Some joints have both bearing surfaces replaced, others, like the thumb or the toe, might only have one surface replaced. Some implants require the use of cement, some are specially coated to bond with the bone. Others like Silastic finger joints, might only be placed into the bone with the express intention that they will not be affixed. The flexible movement of the implant allows the fingers to move with greater freedom.

The hip and the knee are globally the most often performed joint replacement surgery today. The success of these joint replacements stems from advances in metallurgy and bio-mechanics, surgical technique, advances in the sciences of the knowledge of joint structure and function and the behavior of bone – all of which are ongoing.